By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Media Services
September 28, 2010
Guitar legend Joe Satriani and his wife, Rubina, are big fans of traveling, whether it’s a quick flight to Vancouver or an exotic vacation on Tioman Island. Though he enjoys the peace and tranquility of villas that offer little distraction by way of phones and televisions, he also admits he’s partial to having access to the Internet, especially when he’s on tour.
“It’s a drag if you go to a hotel and they don’t have good Internet, especially if they’re charging a premium for it.” Satriani says.
The 54-year-old musician will be kicking off his world tour this month to promote the release of his latest album “Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards,” which will be in stores on Oct. 5. Check out www.satriani.com for updated concert dates.
Q. What is your favorite vacation destination?
A. I was watching “Cast Away” the other night and it reminded me of this beautiful island off the coast of Malaysia called Tioman. My wife and I stayed in this hut and a family came down the hill to cook for us. The food was amazing and the snorkeling was beautiful. There was no phone or Internet, which was really nice. “Cast Away” reminded me so much of it. (NOTE: “Cast Away” was filmed on Monuriki, off the coast of Fiji’s largest island.)
Q. Where are your favorite weekend getaways?
A. If I have a few days off, we like to stick to urban environments like New York City or Los Angeles. They’re very different from San Francisco, so it’s exciting for us to visit. We also enjoy traveling to Vancouver, which is just two hours by plane for us. It’s a great city to hang out in with lots of natural beauty. It also has more restaurants than any place I’ve ever been to! There’s also so much to do around here. Lake Tahoe is just a 3-1/2 hour drive away if you’re lucky. We used to live there.
Q. What are your favorite hotels and restaurants?
A. My favorite restaurant is in Paris — Guy Savoy (www.guysavoy.com). I’ve been there a few times and one night they did all these things with fresh peas. I can’t even describe it — peas turned into liquid, gelatin cubes and mousses. We were eating duck, beef, chicken and all sorts of other things were flying around. I still remember those peas, though. They were so wonderfully iridescent green. Everything was very fresh and delicious. As for hotels, I can’t remember the names of them, but I loved this place in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, that had huts with no TVs, radios or air conditioning. The cooking there was wonderful. And I stayed at a hut in Bora Bora that was right over the water that was outstanding. But when we’re traveling around for work, I want the hotel to be a small boutique hotel that’s not too huge. I love the Kimpton (www.kimptonhotels.com) hotels. Their creature comforts are pretty fantastic. When you’re touring you really don’t want to be too far away fro m everything. I’d rather be right in town near a Starbucks and some good restaurants.
Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?
A. My iPhone. And I hate to say it but my computer saves the day when the local TV or hotel movies aren’t any good.
Q. What are your five favorite cities?
A. Not counting where I live, I love Tokyo, Melbourne, London, Paris and Rome — although it’s hard to pick just one city in Italy.
Q. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?
A. Iceland. I saw a music documentary about the band Sigur Ros and they played the most unusual music. The people (in Iceland) seemed quite unique and the landscape is like nothing I’ve ever seen.
Q. What is your best and/or worst vacation memory?
A. We have a long history in my family of not having a good Hawaiian vacation. It took us a long time to get it right. The good part was when we stayed at the Halekulani in Honolulu. The hotel was spectacular and the food was great. I really did like Waikiki Beach, even though it’s incredibly crowded. It’s a special place. There’s a local snow cone place (Waiola Bakery & Shave Ice) that’s pretty famous, too. One of my worst trips was to Maui. My son got sick from eating some bad clams, we suspect. We went in April or May and were expecting warm weather, but we could never enjoy the beach because the wind would kick up the sand.
© 2010 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
